PRINCETON, N.J. -- Jim Maconaghy, the Coordinator of Football Officiating for the Colonial Athletic Association, the Ivy League and Patriot League (CIP), announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 2018 season.
 
“I want to express our great appreciation for Jim’s passion for and dedication to Ivy League football and football officiating generally. Jim has garnered tremendous respect nationally and through his efforts the CIP has become one of the best officiating groups in the nation,” said Executive Director Robin Harris. “Jim prioritized the good of the game and the welfare of the student-athletes, holding our officials to a higher standard, and embracing new policies to curb the rate of concussions in football, including targeting and our experimental kickoff rule.”
 
“I have truly enjoyed being involved in officiating for 53 years. The Colonial Athletic Conference, Ivy League and Patriot League, their leaders, administrators, coaches and players, have continuously excelled with great athletics, great scholarship, and great sportsmanship. I have been very grateful to have had the opportunity to be a member of the team.”
 
Maconaghy became the coordinator for the Ivy League and Patriot League in 2004 and also worked with the Atlantic-10 Conference for seven years before the Colonial Athletic Association became a football conference in 2007. He has more than two decades of on-field experience as a collegiate referee.
 
He worked as a referee in all three CIP conferences, as well as the A-10, Yankee Conference and the Big East Conference, from 1986 until his retirement as a referee in 2000. Prior to that, he was a referee on the NCAA Division II and III levels for seven seasons, beginning in 1979. He has worked countless rivalry games during the regular season and been part of Championship game officiating crews including Division I-AA (1989, 1992, and 1995) and Division III (1985-86).
 
During his career, Maconaghy has also had the privilege of officiating many big games, including the 1997 Army vs. Navy game, the 1999 Eddie Robinson Football Classic (Kansas at Notre Dame) and the 1999 Independence Bowl (Mississippi vs. Oklahoma).
 
Maconaghy has been a clinician on the scholastic and collegiate level since 1986. In addition to serving as a coordinator of officials, he has served as the Game Day Coach/Quarterback Coordinator for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles for 10 years. He was named the National Football Foundation “Collegiate Official of the Year” in 1996 and inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
 
In addition to assigning officials for all Ivy League, Patriot League and CAA teams, Maconaghy coordinated clinics to educate officials and coaches on the intricacies of collegiate officiating, select the top officials for FCS football assignments as well as work with the coaches and institutions to evaluate the game performances on a weekly basis.
 
The three conferences expect to fill the position in early 2019.